By Late April and the lockdown had settled into something more like a permanent arrangement than a temporary disruption. The "two weeks to flatten the curve" of early March had become seven weeks of school online and Mama working impossible hours and the world continuing to rearrange itself in ways that were hard to see clearly from inside a kitchen in Baton Rouge.
AP exams were happening online for the first time — a condensed format, shorter, typed rather than written. The AP Chemistry exam was scheduled for May 11th. I prepared the same way I always prepare: methodically, consistently, without leaving anything to chance. The format change was unsettling but manageable. The material was the same material I had learned. I knew what I knew.
Sophomore year was going to end without a ceremony, without a last day in the building, without the particular social texture of a school year closing in person. That was worth noting and then accepting. Acceptance and grief are not the same thing, and both are sometimes necessary for the same event. I was doing a small amount of both.
I made a proper bread pudding on Sunday — MawMaw Shirley's recipe, the one I had first made at Easter when I was thirteen, the one I now made from memory with full confidence. I brought half to her porch with a note and a sprig of rosemary from my herb garden. She called when she found it and said, "You are still my best student." I said I had one teacher and she was the best one. She said, "Don't tell that to your school teachers." I said, "I mean it differently with them." She laughed. That laugh, through the phone, from a few miles away, was the best sound of the week.
MawMaw Shirley’s bread pudding was the centerpiece that Sunday, but it wasn’t the only thing I baked — the kitchen had that particular gravity where leaving it felt impossible, and so I stayed. Blueberry muffins came next, the kind of straightforward, no-ceremony baking that steadies the hands when the mind is doing heavier work. There is something honest about a muffin: it asks little, promises only itself, and delivers exactly that. That afternoon, with sophomore year dissolving quietly around me and MawMaw’s laugh still warm in my ear, that felt like exactly enough.
Blueberry Muffins
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 32 minutes | Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease each cup with cooking spray.
- Whisk dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Mix batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix or the muffins will be dense.
- Fold in blueberries. Add the blueberries and fold carefully two or three times to distribute them without crushing. If using frozen berries, do not thaw them first.
- Fill and top. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Sprinkle the reserved tablespoon of sugar lightly over the tops.
- Bake. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool. Let the muffins rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 215 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 175mg